Justin Trudeau pledges Liberals will post detailed expenses

OTTAWA — There are “unresolved” issues regarding Sen. Pamela Wallin‘s travel expenses, the prime minister said Wednesday as his government moved to signal that it wants all parliamentarians to be more transparent about their spending.

Harper said he was “not aware of any particulars” regarding Wallin’s audit, nor was he aware of the result of the audit, which one senator has said may not arrive until the summer. But he said his former chief of staff, who paid Sen. Mike Duffy $90,000 to help with his spending claims, did not offer a similar deal to Wallin, who is under scrutiny over her travel bills.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 5.

“The audit has taken considerable time and considerable issues remain unresolved. Beyond that, I am not aware of any particulars,” Harper told the House of Commons. “Obviously, Sen. Wallin has stepped outside the Conservative caucus and understands she must resolve these matters.”

The statement came on a day when the Liberals in the Senate and House of Commons announced they would post detailed expense claims for all their parliamentarians starting in the fall.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement quickly told reporters the government had no problems with MPs posting spending details, just as ministers and senior bureaucrats do. Clement also said the Tories had “no difficulty opening up” the Commons Board of Internal Economy, which oversees the spending rules and behaviours of MPs and normally meets behind closed doors.

“We are absolutely in favour of any measures that would have the same kind of expenses accountability that currently exists for ministers to be expanded to all MPs,” Clement said.

“We think it is appropriate at this time in a proactive way for MPs of all political stripes to disclose their expenses in a similar fashion that cabinet ministers already have to do on their ministerial expenses.”

However, Clement’s office stopped short of saying any Tory parliamentarians would actually do so — suggesting it was up to the Board of Internal Economy. A spokesman for the New Democrats made a similar statement Wednesday evening, saying any proposal “has to make sense.”

But earlier in the day, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said his MPs and senators would start posting detailed expense claims by the fall.

“We’re not simply saying this is our proposal and we hope the other parties buy in,” Trudeau said in a press conference organized in front of Parliament Hill.

“We are going to start action. As of this fall, our reports will be put online. We are going to be transparent about this approach. And we’re just going to start doing it, and not wait for the others to do it.”

Trudeau also said he plans to introduce legislation that would make meetings of the Board of Internal Economy in the House of Commons public by default.

He also proposes a closer link between the federal auditor general’s office and the two boards.

The Senate will vote Thursday to bring the auditor general in to review its spending, after one day of debate Wednesday.

Debate Wednesday focused on how broad the “comprehensive” audit should be, how far back the review should go, and whether it would be a one-time exercise done in response to what senators described as extraordinary circumstances.

“A comprehensive audit is what it is — it’s 105 senators, it’s our entire administration,” Liberal Sen. Jim Munson told reporters outside the Senate chamber. “It means take a look at all of us. It is taxpayers’ money.”

Sen. Mike Duffy’s name came up repeatedly during debate, as questions continued to swirl about the $90,000 payment he received from then chief of staff Nigel Wright, Harper’s right-hand man until the cheque payment was revealed. Wright resigned over it last month.

In the House of Commons, Harper confirmed that he told Duffy to repay the money during a one-on-one talk after a mid-February caucus meeting where Duffy asked for “clarification” on a speech the prime minister had just given warning Conservative MPs and senators to repay inappropriate expenses.

“I have made this view known to, obviously, a range of our caucus and also my staff. Mr. Duffy was seeking clarification on remarks I had made to this effect in caucus and, of course, I was adamant that any inappropriate expenses had to be reimbursed by him,” Harper said.

Harper said Wright didn’t offer Wallin or any other senator the same deal.

“I did ask Mr. Wright whether he had any similar arrangements or discussed any similar arrangements or had any similar arrangements with other senators and he said no,” Harper told the Commons.

Duffy didn’t answer questions about his February conversation with Harper Wednesday.

On her way into the centre block to attend the Senate, Wallin was asked if she knew when her audit would be released.